In article <423qvi$2401 at news.cuny.edu> kang at msvax.mssm.edu writes:
| Oh! If only I have a nice and little incubator which can give sufficient warmth
| to my little fellows, I don't have to stay at the lab till 5:30. I can bring my
| little fellows in my pocket and can plate them in my home lab.
Step-By-Step instructions for an incubator for less than $1 (well almost):
1. Get two cardboard boxes, one smaller than the other.
2. Buy an adjustable temperature heating pad from the drugstore or
a heated rock from a pet store (the kind used for pet snakes).
3. Put the heater into the bottom of the bigger box and pack the
smaller box inside the bigger one and stuff the space between them
with styrofoam peanuts or newspaper.
4. Place a thermometer (pet store item again) through the top of the box.
Adjust the temperature until it is stable at say 37 degrees C.
5. Put your petri dishes inside a large tupperware box with lid, and put
this into the smaller box.
6. Wait. Check for colonies after 18 hours. No sweat, eh?
BTW, I learned many tricks like using McDonald straws for pipets while
in a very low budget microbiology department in a New England school and
I'm not tellin' where ;-) Okay twist my arm and I will...
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* Paul N. Hengen, Ph.D. /--------------------------/*
* National Cancer Institute |Internet: pnh at ncifcrf.gov |*
* Laboratory of Mathematical Biology | Phone: (301) 846-5581 |*
* Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center| FAX: (301) 846-5598 |*
* Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201 USA /--------------------------/*
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